Naples Daily News Article:Water
board backs developer's bid for boat slips on Vanderbilt Channel
2006:
February
14:
Governor Jeb Bush and his cabinet defer indefinitely a decision
involving docks after Vanderbilt Partner II, Ltd. withdraws its
application. (Prior to this date, numerous letters were written
and phone calls were made to Governor Bush and his Cabinet opposing
the building of docks. A petition
was circulated in protest of the docks and it was signed by hundreds
of concerned persons. Several Letters
to the Editor were written to the Naples Daily News)
February
15:
Naples Daily News Article: Governor,
Cabinet put docks decision on hold
March
13:
Naples Daily News Article: Developer,
permit reviewers at odds on boat dock proposal for The Dunes
2007
January
19:
Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd withdraws their application for a submerged
land lease as an agenda item for the January 30th meeting with Governor
Crist and his cabinet. (Prior to this date, numerous letters were
written and phone calls were made to Governor Crist and his Cabinet
and their aides in opposition to the docks, numerous Letters
to the Editor were written to the Naples Daily News,
and additional petition names totaling
nearly 1000 were collected in opposition to the docks.)
January
26:
Naples Daily News Article: Vanderbilt
Beach developer defers Cabinet vote on dock proposal
April 24: There is a Manatee Protection Plan Shoreline Land Development Code (LDC) that Collier county staff members use when calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips that developers can build. As this LDC is written, it is vague in its meaning and county staff have had to interpret its intent. For this reason, sometime prior to April 24, 2007, Collier county staff members asked the County Commissioners to vote on a Manatee Protection Plan Shoreline Land Development Code Amendment that would give them guidance. On April 24, 2007, the Commissioners asked staff to draft such an amendment.
May
27:
Naples Daily News Article Boat
slips at issue in dispute between County, Signature Communities
Sunday, May 27, 2007
September 17: The Department of the Army, Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers, Fort Myers Regulatory Office posted a public notice on the internet that Signature Communities had applied for a permit to build 49 docks in the Vanderbilt Channel of the Cocohatchee River. The public notice stated: "The decision whether to issue or deny this permit application will be based on the information received from this public notice and the evaluation of the probable impact to the associated wetlands. This is based on an analysis of the applicant's avoidance and minimization efforts for the projects, as well as the compensatory mitigation proposed." "Comments regarding the application should be submitted in writing to the District Engineer ... within 30 days from the date of this notice." The Permit Application No. SAJ-2002-2966(IP-LBD) http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/regulatory/pnwebshare/Florida_Public_Notices/091707saj-2002-2966.pdf (Note: This 22-page document, complete with drawings, takes time to download.)
October
16 :
Governor Crist
and his Cabinet scheduled an agenda item for their October
16th meeting to consider Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd.'s
lease application for submerged land. If permitted, this lease
would allow Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd. to build 49 docks and a private
fishing pier along one of the narrowest portions of the Vanderbilt
Channel of the Cocohatchee River in Naples, Florida.
The Governor's Cabinet voted against permitting the lease, despite the recommendation by the South Florida Water Management District to permit the lease. Those voting "no" included Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum. Commissioner Charles Bronson voted yes. Governor Crist ruled a moot point, meaning that his vote would not count. He did not vote.
Since October 16th, several members of the Governor’s Cabinet have been approached by Signature to change their votes. The Marine and Environmental Consulting firm, Turrell, Hall & Associates, on behalf of Signature Properties, has offered to pay higher lease fees to the state and to deed additional land to the state in exchange for the submerged land lease. It is likely that Signature will officially reapply for the submerged land lease this fall.
October 17: The Naples Daily News front page featured the following article on October 17th: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/oct/16/state_sinks_controversial_dunes_marina_proposal/
October 30: Signature requested and was given the first of seven extensions of time by the South Florida Management District to file a petition challenging the October 16th denial of the permit for a submerged land lease. At some time after October 30th, Signature began working with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) staff on a revised proposal to show that their project is in the public interest.
2008
February 5: County Staff eventually drafted four possible amendments to the Manatee Protection Plan Shoreline Land Development Code (LDC) and recommended the following one. “Exclude shoreline within County required preserve areas and State and Federal conservation easements which do not allow wetslips within their conservation easements when calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips pursuant to the Manatee Protection Plan.”
This amendment (“the shoreline in a conservation easement is not to be allowed for the calculation of boat slips, the maximum number of boat slips") would have prevented Signature Communities from being able to count their land bordering Water Turkey Bay in calculating the number of wet slips they could build. Instead of 49 docks, this amendment would have limited them to 28 slips.
County staff presented the amendment to the Land Development Code to the Commissioners. There were questions concerning the wording of the amendment. Several commissioners wanted to exempt public marinas and have the amendment written in such a way that private marina developers couldn’t apply for permits to build public wet slips and then convert them to private docks. Staff was asked to tweak the statement and come back to the Commissioners on February 19th.
February 19: About 30 people in favor of the amendment were present in the audience of the Commissioners meeting. Three of these 30 spoke. There were a handful of people in the audience who opposed the amendment. Five of them spoke: a Signature lawyer, Tim Hall ...representing Signature’s Marine and Environmental Consulting firm, a leader of the marine industry, a man who erroneously thought the amendment would prevent his getting a permit to build a dock, and a man who once managed Wiggins Pass Marina and proclaimed himself as an authority of the Manatee Protection Plan.
After discussion, Collier County Commissioners voted down the amendment. Many in the audience couldn’t believe their reasons. Commissioner Tom Henning said that they didn’t have enough information to vote for the amendment. Commissioner Fred Coyle asked to table the decision. Henney said this had been discussed over and over and he was tired of it. He called for a motion. No one spoke up, so he motioned to reject the amendment. Commissioner Donna Fiala said she couldn’t vote for an amendment that would prevent the “little guy” from being able to get to the water; she said, "Soon only the rich will have a dock.” The amendment was voted down by Tom Henning, Donna Fiala, Fred Coyle, and Jim Coletta. Frank Halas was not present at the time of the vote.
Many in the audience were stunned. The proposed amendment was written in such a way that it would not have affected the “little guy” who wanted to build a dock adjacent to his/her land. It would not have affected present or future public marinas or public boat ramps. It would have limited the number of wet slips in future privately-owned and privately operated marinas that are constructed adjacent to preserves and conservation easements. (A marina is defined as 10 or more wet slips).
In summary, the Collier County Commissioners voted against an amendment to the Land Development Code that would have excluded shoreline within County required preserve areas and State and Federal conservation easements which do not allow wet slips within their conservation easements when calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips pursuant to the Manatee Protection Plan. This amendment would have limited the number of docks that Signature Community could build in the Vanderbilt Channel. That number would have been reduced from 49 to 28.
February 27: Commissioner Coyle asked for a reconsideration of the amendment.
February 29: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: Paying attention?
March 10: By e-mail, a copy of a letter from Lauren Diaz (Army Corps of Engineers), to Mr. Quin Kurth (of Turrell, Hall, and Associates, Inc, representing Signature Communities) was sent to all persons who had written to the corps in response to the Corps public notice concerning Signature's dredging permit application. In her letter, Ms. Diaz requested that Mr. Kurth respond to some of the concerns issued by the Save the Manatee Club, the National Marine Fisheries Service-Habitat conservation Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Collier County residents, and the Corps.
March 11: Commissioner Fred Coyle officially requested a reconsideration of the Land Development Code amendment in the form of a motion. Commissioner Frank Halas seconded the motion. The vote was 3 -2. Commissioners Coyle, Halas, and Fiala voted to reconsider. Commissioners Henning and Coletta voted not to reconsider. The vote carried; a public meeting to reconsider the amendment was scheduled for 2:00 PM on April 8th.
April 8: The Commissioners decided to postpone their discussion of the amendment. Their decision was based on the fact that their staff had not put out a public announcement about the meeting for the 8th. The staff will put out a public notice that the Commissioners will discuss and vote on the amendment on April 22nd.
April 9: Naples Daily News Local News Article: "A year later, boat slip debate rages on".
April 22: After much public input from both proponents of the amendment and from those opposing the amendment (marina industry representatives and Signature Property's lawyer), Commissioner Coyle proposed a compromise. He motioned that Option B, as proposed by the commission staff be adopted with an additional provision. Option B is “Exclude shoreline within County required preserve areas and State and Federal conservation easements which do not allow wet slips within their conservation easements when calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips pursuant to the Manatee Protection Plan.” The additional provision is that for projects that will provide public access to the water, such projects will go before the Board to determine if they can qualify to be exempted from this rule and to what extent. Since this would be a change from the original Option B, there will need to be a public notice published prior to the vote and there will need to be another LDC amendment public meeting. The staff was directed to clean up some of the language in the amendment proposal, schedule another meeting, and post public notice.
April 24th: The Naples Daily News published an article titled, "More waterway access possible."
2009
February 9: The Collier County Development Services Center (CDES) weekly status report stated that CPCD-200901 (The Dunes Docks) was in for a comprehensive plan consistency determination. Laura Roys is the Environmental staff member who was assigned to this review.
February 11 and February 24: Consistency Review letters were sent to Tim Hall of Turrell, Hall & Associates, Inc representing The Dunes Docks.
April 20: A consistency review letter, replacing the letters sent on February 11th and 24th, was sent to Tim Hall of Turrell, Hall & Associates, Inc, representing The Dunes Docks from Michele R. Mosca, AICP, Principal Planner, Community Development and Environmental Services Division for Collier County.
May 22: Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd. filed a petition for Formal Administrative Hearing pursuant to sections 120.569 and 120.57(1) F.S., to challenge the lease application denial action taken on October 16, 2007 by the Board of Trustees (ie. the Governor's Cabinet.)
May 27: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: Not in the public interest.
May 30: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: That Great Guardian ?
June 1: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: Just say 'no'
June 3: The Governor's Cabinet's Aides discussed a re-submitted Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd's lease application for submerged land. If permitted, this lease will allow Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd. to build a 49-wet slip marina and a private fishing pier along the Vanderbilt Channel of the Cocohatchee River.
June 4: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: 'No' Good
June 5: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: Do right by the bay
June 9: The Vanderbilt Partners Ltd "Dunes Docks" project application request for a submerged land lease was scheduled for consideration by the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. The vote was 3-1 to approve the permit. Those voting yes included Governor Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, and Commissioner Charles Bronson. The "No" vote was by Attorney General Bill McCollum. McCollum said he saw nothing new in the proposal from what he'd seen before [2007].
June 10:
Naples Daily News Local News Article:"State approves controversial plan to build docks on Vanderbilt Channel in North Naples."
NBC2 News "Dock approval 'not in the public interest'"
2010
April 1: The Collier County Planning Commission (CCPC) met to discuss an amendment to Land Development Code 5.05.02. The purpose of the amendment was to clarify the use of conservation easements and preserves in the calculation of permissible wet slips in a marina. This section of the code applies to the Manatee Protection Plan. This amendment was written by Collier County staff. It stated in Section G: "The definition of shoreline for the purpose of the Manatee Protection Plan shall be the interface of land and water at high water, as established using standard survey techniques. All of the shoreline will be used for calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips pursuant to the Manatee Protection Plan, except for shoreline within conservation easements where the conservation easement expressly and specifically excludes the use of the easement shoreline to calculate the amount of wet slips.” If the CCPC had voted in favor of this amendment, Vanderbilt Partners LTD. II would have been granted 49 docks for its proposed marina. CCPC asked county staff to rewrite the amendment to reflect community and CCPC concerns.
Mid April: County staff rewrote the LDC amendment discussed by the Collier County Planning Commission on April 1st. This new version of Section G reads: "The definition of shoreline for the purpose of the Manatee Protection Plan shall be the interface of land and water at mean high water. Shoreline within County required preserves or within State and Federal conservation easements which do not allow wet slips within their conservation easements shall not be used in calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips pursuant to the Manatee Protection Plan, except that projects which make 50 percent or more of their wet slips available for public use may request additional boat slips as a Conditional Use. Any existing or vested right with respect to wet slips shall be exempted from this ordinance.” If this amendment is passed, Signature will be able to build no more than 28 docks in its marina.
Because this is a new version of the amendment, it will need to be discussed by the Collier County Environmental Advisory Council, the Collier County Development Services Advisory Committee, and then the Collier County Planning Commission.
May 5: Meetings were scheduled for the Environmental Advisory Council and the Development Services Advisory Committee to discuss the amendment developed by County Staff to the Land Development code in mid April (see above). The Environmental Advisory Council met at the Board of County Commissioners meeting room, 3rd floor, County Office, 301 E. Tamiami Trail at 9:00 AM. The Development Services Advisory met in conference rooms 609/610 at 2800 N. Horseshoe Drive at 3:00 PM.
The Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) approved the amendment with the following changes:
- Replace the words “50 percent or more of their” with “some”, in the second sentence under subsection “G” in the amendment.
- Replace the word “ordinance” with “subsection” in the last sentence under subsection “G” in the amendment. Also to request from the County Attorney Office to define what is meant by “existing and vested right” in the sentence.
- Add the following sentence immediately before the last sentence under subsection “G” in the amendment: “This ordinance is not intended to allow publicly owned wetslips within a NRPA.”
The DSAC voted unanimously to revert to their previous wording: "The definition of shoreline for the purpose of the Manatee Protection Plan shall be the interface of land and water at high water, as established using standard survey techniques. All of the shoreline will be used for calculating the maximum allowable number of wet slips pursuant to the Manatee Protection Plan, except for shoreline within conservation easements where the conservation easement expressly and specifically excludes the use of the easement shoreline to calculate the amount of wet slips.”
May 20: The Collier County Planning Commission met to discuss the Land Development code developed in mid April by Collier County Staff. They met at the Board of County Commissioners meeting room, 3rd floor, County Office, 301 E. Tamiami Trail at 8:30 AM. The Collier County Planning Commission (CCPC) recommended the following:
- Drop the LDC amendment entirely since it would apply to very few projects within the County. The amendment was also based on a prior staff interpretation which was never codified.
- Review the number of slips allowed, in accordance with the Manatee Protection Plan, on a case by case basis. The number of slips could then be evaluated during PUD or BD extension process, both of which are required to go through public hearings.
- Staff will be required to review the County’s Manatee Protection Plan in accordance with recommendations from the State. The Florida Manatee Management Plan approved in December 2007 requires the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to review all existing Manatee Protection Plans to assess whether revisions are needed.
June 8: The Board of Collier County Commissioners met and voted in favor of a recommendation from the Collier County Planning Commission and County Staff to
- Drop the LDC amendment entirely since it would apply to very few projects within the County. The amendment was also based on a prior staff interpretation which was never codified.
- Review the number of slips allowed, in accordance with the Manatee Protection Plan, on a case by case basis. The number of slips could then be evaluated during PUD or BD extension process, both of which are required to go through public hearings.
- Staff will be required to review the County’s Manatee Protection Plan in accordance with recommendations from the State. The Florida Manatee Management Plan approved in December 2007 requires the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to review all existing Manatee Protection Plans to assess whether revisions are needed.
What this means is that when Signature requests their marina and dock extensions, there will be a public hearing to determine whether or not their conservation easement can be used in the calculation of the number of wetslips they can construct. If they can count their easement, then they can build 49. If they cannot count their easement, they can build only 28.
2011
March 9: Signature held a meeting for Dunes residents about the proposed marina at the Dunes. The proposed marina includes "49 individual slips; can accommodate boats with a total between 30-35 ft (including beam and outboard motor); 39 slips are 35 feet long; 10 slips are 30 feet long; all slips are 14 feet wide; each slip will include power, water and storage box; boat lifts are not included, but may be installed by the dock's owner; lifts have already been permitted." "If approved by the county, presales would begin in the first quarter of 2012; if pre-sales are successful, construction would begin in May 2012; completion would be approximately 6 months; prices have not been established at this time and will be based on market conditions at the time of sales." "Approvals as of March 2011: Vanderbilt Partners II, Ltd has obtained approval from the following agencies: State of Florida, South Florida Water Management, Army Corps of Engineers. " Approval from Collier County is still required to move forward in the process of getting Collier county Dock Extension Permit. Expected decision from Collier County in second half of 2011."
2012
February 28: Naples Daily News: "Letter: Protect our waters."
March 1: Two issues were decided at the Collier County Planning Commission meeting on March 1st.
The first was to determine if the developer could add a multi-dock facility to its Planned Unit Development (PUD) map, and have this addition be considered an insubstantial change. The CCPC voted 5-4 that it was an insubstantial change. Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd. was directed to make the change to Exhibit A of their PUD map to show the location of the multi-slip marina if permitted. The number of proposed docks was to be left out of the drawing.
The second issue was to determine whether or not the multi-dock facility proposal met enough required criteria to have a dock extension 261 feet beyond the 20 feet the county allows. The CCPC rejected the dock extension 5-4. The CCPC decided the placement of the facility would adversely affect the only seagrass beds in the region and interfere with navigation and the public view of the river. The proposed facility would have created a wall of boats standing 15 feet high and stretching 1/4mile long. It would have blocked 1/4 of the narrow waterway.
March 15: A Consent Agenda item to accept the revised drawing titled "Exhibit A" showing the multi-dock facility if permitted was agreed to by the CCPC.
Vanderbilt Partners II Ltd has 30 days to appeal the dock extension to the Collier County Commissioners.
Naples Daily News Local News Article: "10 Year Dispute Between Developer, Vanderbilt Residents Over Dock Nears Conclusion."
March 20: Naples Daily News Local News Article: "Guest Column: Jon Ogle....How to fix what ails Wiggins Pass"
March 28: Naples Daily News Letter to the Editor: "Letter: Story Had It Wrong."
Return to "Dunes Docks and The Vanderbilt Channel of the Cocohatchee Riverl"